"Nature reigns here in all her wanton luxuriance, adorned by a thousand wild graces." Frances Brooke

Hey y'all, it's been a while! Many, many moons ago there's was a date known as July 11th. This was the day that I was supposed to return to the 'real world' from my vacay away, finish up some "minor" schoolwork and then have the rest of the summer to putz around Bankybear. But then July 11th arrived with a strange expression on its face. And then that 'rest'? That didn't happen. And then I got my ass kicked.

Moozh and I departed to the Land of Plenty in the middle of a distance course that I was working. Canadian Literature, I thought, 'Pssh, no biggie. I've read Atwood and Munro and a little bit of Cohen. I wrote a friggin' feminist rant on Ondaatje's 'Cinnamon Peeler'. I'll be fine." And then my teacher and all the course work laughed and said, "Ha! Oh NO YOU AIN'T!" So July 11th rolled around, a day I may here forth reference as The Rapture, after which I had taken a leisurely day of wine cocktails, sleeping masks and examining my tan lines to recuperate from my 'jet lag'. I planned to return to my course work with a fresh mind and some pithy anecdotes to use to introduce myself to new classmates and to endear myself to friends. My last course of the summer, Modern Jewish History, began on The Rapture, and that would be a uniform and convenient date to move ahead with everything. And then the jazzy tan faded on my rose coloured glasses as I sheepishly realized that I was in for more work that I was expecting. A HISTORY CLASS -what the frick was I thinking!!?? And then on top of that, I realized that missing over a third of the distance course I was working on, even though my teacher didn't get to see my vapid expression everyday, was a serious incident.

And of course in the midst of this is always interpersonal stuff. Moozh and I made a serious course correction. Moozh is doing culinary school! His Sommelier and Cicerone course starts in the fall and then his culinary arts course starts in January. He has a pretty pretty set of special wine glasses for his wine course that I am not allowed to touch because I break EVERYTHING. And 'My wife broke my wine set' doesn't really hold up. Sounds kind of like "My dog ate my homework." Our life is so empowered now. The idea of 'vision' or 'direction' was totally foreign to me. I'm not the kind of person that plans out my whole life. But the past month has shown me that vision is not about that. It is about having something that your life is pointing towards. Regent, as holistic and beautiful and considering how many gifts it blessed us with, was not that vision. This decision, this redirection of Matt's, helped us to envision OUR life, not just my life with writing and Matt's with theology. In the midst of deciding on a new direction for Matt, we were able to decide on a new direction for us.

So when I witnessed the date today I felt a bit out of the loop. It has been over a month since the Rapture. Both of my classes are now finished. My Modern Jewish History class I did actually pretty well in it which is only indication that there is a God. The jury is still out on my literature class but I felt the final exam went better than the entire course. My history course only fuelled my morbid fascination with Jewish people. I stood outside the Hillel house on the Yoob campus after the first few classes trying to convince myself to go inside. I decided not to. I have a fat stack of books on the Vichy Regime of France during the Second World War on my desk and I totally will read them. I will then need to watch SNL or maybe Seinfeld. I watched Defiance the other day and it kind of made me feel better. "See the Jews do fight back! Sometimes." Even though Daniel Craig has his model pout going almost the whole movie. Liev Schreiber and Jamie Bell are so sweet in it. Can I say that Jewish names in historical movies are the bomb? Tuvia? Zus? Fiddler on the Roof has Tzietel and Bielke. Cutesters.

And Vic was wonderful. We got to see my aunt and uncle who just relocated there. Their house is amazeballs! And they live in one of the coolest neighbourhoods in the city. But we got to see everything we wanted to see and eat everything we wanted to eat. We saw our old place, Fifth St, Bubby's. And then some of my favourite friends from Vic that I had fallen out of touch with we ran into by accident on the street. Totally sweet.

Well, happy August to everybody. I know it's seriously belated but I just realized I got here.

P.S ~ I start volunteering at the UBC farm this week! I had my orientation yesterday and I am so pumped. I'm starting late in the season but I just want to get my fingers in some ground. They grow so many beautiful things there, including hops! They have their own smokehouse and their own bees. This is on my bucket list!

P.P.S ~ Radiohead could seriously be on the soundtrack to my life. I know that I have previously said that I want the soundtrack to The Assassination of Jesse James to be the soundtrack to my life and that stands true. But Radiohead is allowed to be on there. This was the song my sister and her new moozh danced their first dance to at their wedding. My number one favourite part of weddings is seeing the groom's face when he sees his bride for the first time. But I have decided a serious runner-up is the song they choose for their first dance. I know not everyone puts a ton of thought into it, but I love that moment. I teared up during their first dance as my sister's sang "You're all I need" into her new husbands ear quietly as they danced together. Oy, beautiful. Matzel Tov and all that. Sheesh, getting all teared up writing on my blog.

"I don't need to get steady. I know just how it feels. Tellin' you to get ready…"

My sister in law is officially a big kid and graduates from her program in 18 days. Which blows my head right off my body (And as my Dad used to say when I would flip out as a kid, "little tiny pieces of Brianne all over the ceiling.") It makes me think of when I graduate and how freaky and monumental and somehow simultaneously anticlimactic. Which also makes me think of WHAT WILL I DO THEN? I'm going to graduate with a BFA which is the most useless degree ever. It's a fun degree that does not necessarily get you a fun job. I may end up typing up abnormal medical results in a yellow lit office the size of Harry Potter's bedroom somewhere , "gat-ah-gat-ah-gah-ah", all day long. Or there is always a clicky pen tester.

Basically, I am prematurely stressing out. Which is so unlike me...

And so I've been surfing, because that is simply what happens to my brain when I have a lot to do. It gets up from it's proverbial desk and puts on a sombrero. And when that happens, I am subject to it's whims. It makes me read blogs and watch the Food Network. It MAKES ME DO IT! I came across a food blog (NO WAY!) and this beautiful vegan lady, Oh She Glows, posted something about "graduation fears". It's a beautiful way of articulating that if you get to the end of your education and realize, "Oh crap", that it is not the end of your life. It is something we all inherently know, deep down in the part of us that still dreams even though we step on it and throw garbage at it, that our education is not who we are and that we can always course correct, we can always choose a new way.
*She also makes kick ass blondies.

Easter is coming. And I wish you could see my face right now because I am so serious. (And I am having a weird hair day.) I am so gleefully excited for hot cross buns and sunshine (Bankybear better not cheap out on that this year. IT HAS TO BE SUNNY). Matt and I might go away to Whistler that day and just spend a day. At first I wanted to plan a big thing where people come to our house and I cook and it would be all brunchy and fun. And then I stopped being excited about Easter. So I nixed that idea and now I am back to being excited. My Gram was with us last year and it was so nice and low key. My hot cross buns were less than stellar. Even in the picture they look kind of like tires. Smother them with enough butter and jam and they taste fine, but this year, THIS YEAR, they will be different. I have come a long way in my breadmaking since then.
All I can tell you for sure about Easter Sunday is I'm having a beer. Longest 40 days of my life. I'm kidding of course. It hasn't actually been that hard (SERIOUS!) but I will definitely enjoy the first imbibing.

Beautiful
LemkaB at Etsy

Look at the cute buttons! klardar from Etsy

These are the colours of my kitchen
LynnCardwellPottery at Etsy

Do these earrings come with her face? If so, I will take them.
TribalStyle at Etsy

Happy Wednesday! Friday's not that far away.

P.S ~ Sister-in-law in Russky is za-lov-ka, which I think sounds nice for my 'love sisters'.
P.P.S ~ I just found out that my favourite restaurant in Cowtown, The Coup, has a cookbook. Which means I need it. Basically. I love it when restaurants put out cookbooks because then I feel like I could tip myself after I feed myself.

Summertime, Summertime, Sum-sum-summertime

Muchachos!

The smell of sunscreen. Drippy condensation on

the rim of every cup. Sleeping without covers. Crisp, juicy watermelon. Dewy skin. Hair frizzy from the pool.

Summer is here.

After probably a month straight of overcast, muggy, um disappointing weather, we have had almost a we

ek straight of almost insufferably beautiful sun. At work, every time someone walks through the sliding doors and a sultry gust of humid hotness dances in, everyone in the produce department hovers around the thermometers and the sprouts, biting their nails, 'Oh God and what about the mushrooms!". And at the end of the day, they are just mushrooms and we STILL get a wicked summer.

Matt and I hiked the Chief on Wednesday which was soooo fun! Matt's still sore and walking like he pooped his pants. My legs aren't too sore but I still have sore, burned shoulders. We hit the peak on one of the hottest days we had had so far this summer and man did we feel it. Dipping down into the trees each time from the three peaks was a cool blanket on us.

We did the Squaw trail up the East (I thiiiink it's East), which is essentially a straight scramble up the side of the mountain. And we ran it. Of course we did, because we're first born, type-A, no-I-swear-I-can-do-it-heart attack people. But that was literally what it was like the entire way up.

We met some nice people, (and when I say 'met' I mean we borrowed a match from them or we offered them a bandage or a cigarette as they whimpered to catch their breath on the side of the trail)

and couldn't have had a better day for it.

This is Matt toying with the wildlife. It's like Hammy from Over the Hedge. Once you find high-fructose corn syrups, you can't go back.

We easily did it the hard way up AND down. The side with the peaks had all of these narrow channels, ladders

and chains (it was very BDSM, granola-style of course) and so taking that way down, when gravity's on your side and all was at times slightly... top heavy.

There is my wiiiiiidle husband way out there. The forests out here on the West Coast are powerful and dense like fur. And they are of a size that I have never seen before. The Golden Spruce, which is one of my favorite books ever, is written about the old growth forests on the West Coast, particularly the Pacific Northwest. John Vailant write about the trees in a way that takes my breath away, especially when you're in the midst of them.

This summer is a magical time and it's only just getting started. More sunburns and frizzy hair to go!